complexion complex

I was never born with alabaster skin. Though I do have a little Spanish blood in me, (compliments of my mom's great great great grandmother) and a little dash of Japanese (my dad's ancestors), my skin says otherwise. But hey, what's wrong with that?

Fascination with white skin stems back from colonial Philippines. To us "indios", peaches and cream complexion has always been synonymous to "elite" and "superiority" as brown skin is to "low class" and "inferiority". Even Maria Clara, Rizal's idea of beauty was depicted as a Spanish Mestiza. And today's media hasn't shown us "indios" any mercy. What, with continuous promotion of whitening products and the discovery of L-Glutathione, the Sun Goddess (almost) never had a place in the limelight. Moreover, the chances for stardom has always been given to the half-n-halfs (my half aussie cousin's term for Filipinos with foreign ancestry, preferably of European or American descent) who display delicate, pixie like Caucasian features and yes, light complexion. Never was there any movie or sitcoms that has the heroine or the leading lady played by exotic, olive skinned true blue Pinay beauty, only with a few exceptions like Tetchie Agbayani, Amy Austria, Dina Bonnevie, Gloria Diaz and the superstar, La Aunor. And as expected, most, if not all of their morena counterparts will have to settle with D-list roles as a comic relief, the plain jane sidekick, the househelp or the extra.

Take Wilma Doesn't for instance. With her statuesque height, well-proportioned body and a pretty face to boot, she could send the likes of Tyra Banks and other supermodels running for their money. And that smooth, caramelicious skin is exquisite. But in the Philippines, she was reduced to being a comic relief: the plain jane househelp of the luminiscent Lucy Torres in their now defunct sitcom.

Bottom line is, we are never proud of our complexion, the only (and maybe waning) legacy we might have left from our Indo-Malayan ancestry. While our Caucasian counterparts are shelling out a huge wad of cash on tanning booths, self tanners and what nots, we spend a great deal on getting rid of something they've always wish they had: a natural tan. Why not flaunt it? We're beautiful... We're sun goddesses. And we're 80 % less susceptible to skin cancer compared to those blessed (nay, cursed) with peaches in cream complexion. IT's a legacy we should take pride on.